I hate to point this out, but I believe that if you go selling a brand of mountain bikes (or anything for that matter) with the name “Lion King” you may end up getting nasty letters from lawyers hired by a well-known entertainment company based in Anaheim, California. Hard to believe, but these folks take the protection of their trademarks kind of seriously. It may not have made it to the Tehran Tripleplex yet, but there was a mildly popular animated movie by that name a few years ago. That being said, can I interest you in my line of Mickey Mouse derailleurs?
An Iranian mountain bike??? Well, it would be good in sand and never run out of fork oil!mark up isn’t really that high. On a $1000 dollar bike, shops charge from $100-$700 on top. It really depends on the shop, the manufacturer, how much the bike costs, shipping costs etc… Usually, bikes shops don’t have a lot of room to bargain. If you want a deal, ask for some goodies thrown in. A store would prefer to throw in some $60 pedals than give you a $60 cash discount. So, don’t haggle too much, bike stores struggle already as it is. Just ask for a water bottle and cage, or some other accessory. Maybe if you buy a helmet, bike, shoes, lock etc. all together, they’ll give you a sweet deal. standard (gross) profit margin on bikes is in the 30-40% range, which is grievously low compared to many other industries.
Most places will be willing to deal on ’98 models, but keep in mind, most bike shop owners make considerably less than most computer geeks. on bikes less than $1000 msrp, about 10% off is about as much as you can usually get away with, and that assumes that supply exceeds demand, which it often does, but sometimes bikes that really kick ass (like ’98 fisher genesis bikes) sell out quickly, so shop owners are less willing to deal if they know they can’t get more from the manufacturer until ’99. If the bike is already on clearance, don’t expect to get too much more discounted unless it’s obvious they really want to get rid of it, which may be the case with cannondales.
if you’re a pain in the ass customer, who takes long test rides on 6 different bikes, and has the shop swap out a stem or two to try different sizing, be prepared to just pay retail and enjoy the great service. in general, i sometimes find it better to haggle a smidgen less, and keep the good will of my local wrenching crew. Then they’re more likely to do things like pressing that new headset into the frame for free, while i wait, so i can finish putting my new bike together, so i can race it that afternoon. if you’re not super picky about the accessories you might need, ask them what they want to get rid of. They may offer you a killer price on something they ordered too many of. we used to do this sometimes back in the day, when i worked in a shop. -mark weaver